At a meeting of the Jogorku Kenesh, Deputy Gulnara Akimbaeva reported a sharp decline in the number of psychiatrists in Kyrgyzstan over the past 15 years. According to her, the number of specialists in this field has halved.
She emphasized that the country is facing a shortage of qualified personnel in the field of mental health, especially in working with children with special needs.
“Currently, there are only 136 psychiatrists in the republic, while the norm should be one specialist for every 40,000 residents. To rectify this situation, it is necessary to focus on training the required specialists. Our universities lack a clear program for training social workers and educators. In comparison, neighboring Kazakhstan is successfully developing similar programs that include modern approaches such as ABA therapy,” she added.
